Application of genomic technologies to the improvement of meat quality in farm animals

Abstract

Meat quality is one of the most important economic traits in farm animals. The goal of genomics technologies is to provide genetic map and other resources to identify loci responsible for genetic variation in quantitative traits such as meat quality. Candidate gene and genome scanning are two main techniques for this purpose. In the past decade, advances in molecular genetics led to identify these genes and markers linked to them. Sequencing of animal genome is important to distinguish gene function and molecular basis of meat quality determinants. Candidate gene considers relationship between the traits of interest and known genes, while genome scanning studies relationship between traits and pre-mapped markers. So far, several genes and sequences were detected which affect meat quality, for example quantitative trait loci (QTL) on chromosome 18 in sheep which causes muscle hypertrophy. The aim of this review is introduce and applications of genomic technologies to the improvement of meat quality. Key words: Genomics technologies, meat quality, candidate gene, genome scanning.